Christian News: August 2008 Edition

The August 2008 Edition of Christian News, the newspaper of the Christian Church in the Upper Midwest is now online. You can also download recent issues as well.

New Disciples.org Website to be Launched September 2

From Disciples News Service:

Communication Ministries will launch a new design for the primary web site of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) on Sept. 2. Disciples.org has been redesigned to utilize new technologies for managing content and will provide new services such as RSS feeds and online giving to the Disciples Mission Fund.The launch will be the first phase of a web site improvement project by Communication Ministries. Future enhancements will include improved and additional resources, and integration with online communities such as MySpace, YouTube and Facebook. Information and online registration for the 2009 General Assembly also will be available on Sept. 2.

To see the new design and to register for the 2009 General Assembly, be sure to visit http://www.disciples.org/ on September 2.

First Christain Keokuk Announces "Saturday Night Alive"

First Christian Church in Keokuk, IA is starting a new service on September 6 (yes, that's a Saturday) called "Saturday Night Alive." Want to find out more? Well, the folks at First have made this video to explain their new endeavor:




The church also has a blog that shares more about the service.

New Info on the Upper Midwest webpage

The following information is now available at the Christian Church in the Upper Midwest website:

• Information on Reconciliation Grants;
• Applications for New Church Grants.
  
  

Both are available at the Resource Page.

Work Groups Needed!!!!!

As you know a Mission Station has been created in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
to accomodate work groups desiring to assist in the cleanup and
rebuild of the areas damaged by flooding and tornados this summer.
The schedule, as of 8-12-08 is below.

I'm wondering if it would be possible to get a whole bunch of other
Upper Midwest folks lined up to go?????????

WE ARE IN NEED OF WORK GROUPS FOR THE FOLLOWING TIME FRAMES.

• August 17-23, 2008 (FCC, Nevada is scheduled...we can easily accomodate 10 more persons)

• August 31-September 6, 2008 (no one is scheduled as of yet)

• September 7-13, 2008 (Capitol Hill, Des Moines is scheduled...we can easily accomodate 10 more persons)

• September 14-20, 2008 (Northwood CC, Indianapolis is scheduled...we can easily accomodate 10 more persons)

• September 21-30, 2008 (FCC, Gibson City, IA is scheduled for 9/22-24...we can easily accomodate a dozen more folks at least for the entire week)

• September 28-October 4, 2008 (Norwalk CC is scheduled for 10/4; FCC Red Oak is scheduled for 9/28-10/1...we can easily accomodate about 15-18 more persons for the entire week)

• October 5-11, 2008 (FCC, Medina, Ohio is scheduled...we can easily accomodate an additional 15 persons

• October 12-18, 2008 (Disciples CC, Cleveland Heights, Ohio is scheduled...we can accomodate an addition half dozen folks)

• October 19-25, 2008 (no one is scheduled as of yet)

• October 26-November 1, 2008 (Legacy CC, Harrison, Ohio is scheduled...we can easily accomodate another dozen folks)

• November 2-8, 2008 (First CC, Zanesville, Ohio is scheduled...we can easily accomodate another half dozen folks)

• November 9-15, 2008 (no one is scheduled as of yet)

The Mission Station will like close for the winter (with the possible
exception of some inside work as it becomes available) on November 15
and likely reopen again in the early Spring 2009.

Looking to build community within the congregation you serve? This
certainly is one way to help in that process...

Interested in helping?

It's simple...just contact the person below to begin the process...

Anne Marie Moyars, Administrative Assistant
Disciples Volunteering - Disaster Response
amoyars@dhm.disciples.org
(317) 713-2666 or toll free (888) 346-2631
Fax Number: (317) 635-4426
Web Site: http://www.discipleshomemissions.org

From the DOC Lectionary Blog

From the DOC Lectionary Blog:

It's easier to say what we believe than to practice what we believe. So for the early Christians it might have been easy to say that "God is the God of all" or "in Christ there is no Jew nor Greek" but putting these abstract thoughts into practice would have been much harder to do. Perhaps these stories are there to remind them that Jesus was more concerned about what comes out of the heart than about what rules you follow and that the first messianic proclamation actually came from a gentile woman. Reminders of things like these were almost certainly needed to help resolve issues of Church governance in the first century. They're also needed today.

Continue reading...

Work groups needed for Iowa flood recovery

From DisciplesWorld:

By Rebecca Bowman Woods, DisciplesWorld news and website editor

INDIANAPOLIS (8/11/08) — Three Disciples congregations have opened their doors as mission stations in Iowa, where summer flooding caused extensive damage in Cedar Rapids and other areas.

After the floodwaters receded, the churches — Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, First Christian Church in Coralville, and Marion Christian Church in Marion — worked with the Office of Disciples Volunteering to prepare their facilities, and their members, to host mission groups from outside the area. Now all they need are volunteers.

Carl Zerweck, who heads Disciples Volunteering, estimated the number of homes damaged by flooding in the Cedar Rapids area as “somewhere between 4,000 and 5,400.” Zerweck is concerned about the amount of “cutting and gutting” work to be done before cold weather arrives. “The situation is bad. There’s a lot of need and we really need people to consider going.”

Work groups are needed for several of the weeks from September through mid-November, according to Zerweck. Grants are available through Week of Compassion to help with trip costs.

Continue reading...